Fallout 76: Multiplayer Fallout

So lots of stuff coming out of E3 at the moment like Hitman 2 Anthem cyberpunk 2077 and so on. One of them is Fallout 76 the first multiplayer game in the fallout universe.

Bethesda have been teasing the game for the past month but did their first announcement with proper details and gameplay this sunday.

Here's a summary of the details given in that presentation

Details are still shaking out but it seems like it's based on an enhanced version of the fallout 4 engine with the setting based in west virginia with a game world 4 times the size of fallout 4's boston. Set some 25 years after the bombs drop it's the earliest of the fallout games in terms of timeframe.

It's an always online game where a few tens of people share the same server and game world allowing for groups of players to play together but it also allows for solo play.

It takes the base building from fallout 4 and adds to it allowing it to occur anywhere in the game world with a new widget called the C.A.M.P. a sort of mobile version of the workbenches. It was implied that these settlements could be built cooperatively and have some sort of purpose in the game plus being able to be packed up and moved somehow.

The gameplay shown is a fair amount of combat some with players in power armor mostly against monsters some old some new and then a short bit of PVP. The game is survival in some way but it was described as softcore survival where death doesn't mean losing any progress.

It also had some new elements like the nuclear launch sites where if you gather the launch codes which were collected in pieces from enemies in the game get a full set either yourself or with a group then you could designate a target and launch a nuke at it. This mechanism in addition to clearing an area of an enemy or player would then create an irradiated zone with rare materials and such to collect.

I'm generally excited about the possibilities of this game I love the fallout games and really enjoyed fallout 4 so to have something I could play with others perhaps as a possible weekend game is intriguing. There are a lot of questions still outstanding if this game is online how will they handle things like the VATS targeting system (the mechanism in the fallout games that slows time and allows precision targeting of limbs etc) I guess it maybe won't appear as it would be tricky to implement something like that in a game with other real players. Will it allow mods they are a huge part of the previous games but less common in online titles.

Anyway I'm excited for this game and it's not that long to wait for it the release date is November 14th of this year with a beta program running sometime between now and then and it sounds like preordering will get you some level of access to it. Something to keep an eye on and maybe something for a weekend game option.

I saw an article on this yesterday...they are 99% certain VATS is not there, as it wouldn't work in multiplayer. They were also very skeptical about the "play solo" bit, as there are a lot of mechanisms where anyone else in the same server could fuck you over. They covered the ability to target and launch nukes anywhere on the map with the phrase "and I can't see how this could be used to grief by any players, by perhaps blowing up someones base, which they've taken ages building".

Submitted by babychaos on Tue, 2018-06-12 07:26

The beta access appears to be locked into pre-ordering, which can only be done in the US an Canada at the moment (although Canada can only get the standard edition, probably due to trade tariffs).

Submitted by Bigger Rob on Tue, 2018-06-12 09:19

They covered the ability to target and launch nukes anywhere on the map with the phrase "and I can't see how this could be used to grief by any players, by perhaps blowing up someones base, which they've taken ages building".

Bethesda guy did say that you don't lose any progression. As you spend in-game resources to build bases, that can only be part of progression.

No idea how that's going to work out. Will watch the Beta with interest. I think this would make a great Sunday-night game. Like in GTA, most people who play are lone-wolfs, so just being 3-or-more is a huge boon. Those few times that someone thought they were picking on one of us and then ALL OF US appear with hardware, scares em off pretty fast. I think that would be the same in F3. Also I think resource gathering is way more efficient with more of us.

I think the Solo mode will be like a private instance. Like GTAO, you can be "always online" without other players.

Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2018-06-12 10:06

Bethesda guy did say that you don't lose any progression. As you spend in-game resources to build bases, that can only be part of progression.

I'd say at best that is an interpretation...they've shown elsewhere mob's damaging/destroying buildings. I highly doubt destruction via other means is treated differently. I'd also be unsure on how they handle permanant base-building alongside a persistant online experience...everyone has their own private server in perpetuality? Sounds expensive...isn't that pretty much like the Minecraft setup, where you pay server fees?

Submitted by babychaos on Tue, 2018-06-12 10:27

It's not permanent base building, you can pack it all up into a special tool.

Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2018-06-12 10:35

I think persistant is the key word...it exists when you are offline. Unless you actually have a private server for solo play (see Minecraft comment regarding viability), there is no way of protecting a base for the time you are offline, or unless you "pack" your entire base (and from what I've seen of the trailer videos, that is piece-by-piece, not as an entire assembly) before logging off each time, and then re-assembling it next time you log-on (assuming the spot you had built your base is still free).

It does seem as if they have looked at ARK, Rust etc, and said "we could do that", while never actually having played them and realising the massive frustrations inherent with persistant online worlds, especially for those looking to do solo story-focused play. It's not too late for them to announce each server will start with 100 players, and you "win" by being the last one. Thats all the funky vogue right now...

Submitted by babychaos on Tue, 2018-06-12 10:40

Exist when you're offline? I don't see that working because there are only a dozen players on a server; you're not attached to a server instance because you can join your friends.

We'll have to wait and see from the Beta.

Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2018-06-12 11:29

My guess is it will go one of 2 ways, which seem to be the only way MMO(RP)G's pan out;

1) Stat grind, lots of fetch quests from immortal NPC's. Option to ignore other players by way of a setting (PvE only), perhaps realm-based. Usage of built items can be linked to a user, however damage can be caused (directly or indirectly), leading to griefing of constructions.

2) PvP hell, survival of the fittest, griefers paradise. Still immortal NPC's, no way of avoiding other players. Maybe constructed items have functionality locked to an owner, but can be destroyed quite easily. Also a stat grind.

My guess would be persistance of some sort (to justify the always online), so you spawn back into the same world/server, or you can join a friend in their instance (but leave behind any constructions you had in the previous realm). I suspect the "you'll never see a server" line is bullshit...they'll just call it something else (realm, world, instance etc etc).

Submitted by babychaos on Tue, 2018-06-12 11:50

I suspect we are looking at something more akin to GTA:O in server construction than a traditional MMO style of thing there may not be actual servers at all just dynamic p2p instances and some master authorisation server to prevent cheats item dups etc with the small number of players we know this sort of system can work. I suspect there won't be persistence as such when you log off all you stuff gets deallocated and then next time you log in unpacked again when it tries to reconnect if it fails as someone else has that spot then maybe the C.A.M.P. just pops back into your inventory with the setting stored inside it.

It does sound like it could be grief tastic in some instances it depends how hard it is to get nukes I mean gtao basically introduced the same thing with the orbital strike you can buy for a few hundred k and it was a bad idea but there are easier ways of fucking with people so I've hardly ever seen it deployed in a game and then it's usually two rival teams duking it out not against some rando just minding their business. In terms of size the maps pretty big 4 times the size of fallout 4 it may take a concerted effort just to find other players to fuck with, not that some people won't of course.

We will have to wait and see how it shapes up and what the beta brings

Submitted by Evilmatt on Tue, 2018-06-12 20:13

The map size is an interesting point. In GTAO, you can cover that in a Buzzard in a few minutes. On foot? Would take FOREVER.

Submitted by brainwipe on Tue, 2018-06-12 22:27

it will likely have some method of fast travel like fallout 4 where you can zip between known points but still you'd have to know where your target was to know where to go

Submitted by Evilmatt on Wed, 2018-06-13 02:14

sounds like there will be the option for private worlds with mod support but not at launch according to an interview with Todd Howard that came out earlier also VATS is still there it's just real time now ... not sure how that works :S

Submitted by Evilmatt on Wed, 2018-06-13 02:57

Some more interviews confirmed that your settlement the C.A.M.P. goes with you when you log off so it can't be damaged when you are offline. It also implied that if your base is damaged by attacks or nuke it will not be destroyed they impled it would then be repairable.

They also talked about the nuke thing being part of the fallout 76 story that you then rerun later for end game content ... as well as griefing

The documentary is pretty interesting fairly light on the game details mostly about the history but a few nuggets in there

it stated that if your CAMP overlaps someone else's when you login again then it gets packed up and you can place it down somewhere else

they also said that radiation damage rather than just being a drain on your max health will have mutation effects a mix of positive and negative traits

the leveling seems to involve perk cards you choose one every level and then can equip and change to generate your build

sounds like you will be able to see where everyone is on the map with 24-30 people in a world sounds very gtao in that respect

Submitted by Evilmatt on Wed, 2018-06-13 20:53

it stated that if your CAMP overlaps someone else's when you login again then it gets packed up and you can place it down somewhere else

Just occurred to me that if each of us have a CAMP, we can pick an area of the map (say a hillside) and then each build our own camps next to each other such that it makes one giant base. With a bit of organisation, that could be pretty cool!